Facts About Medicinal Marijuana Treatments in Canada

In Canada, the regulation that allows the procurement of marijuana for medicinal purposes was established in July 2001 and only two categories of patients are eligible for it. It is legal for patients who are certified and approved by Health Canada to grow their own cannabis for personal medicinal consumption provided it is purely and solely for that and not for commercial purposes. It is also possible to obtain a license to produce and grow medicinal marijuana as a person designated by an approved and certified patient.

Chiropractors, Naturopathic Doctors, Counselors, or any other type of therapists who treat patients with alternative therapy or treatments are not considered eligible specialists to diagnose for the MMAR program under Health Canada’s application guidelines and cannot apply for a license to obtain medicinal marijuana.

In Canada there are different forms of medical cannabis; the first one is an extract called Sativex that contains THC and cannabidol in a spray form, the second form is a synthetic or manmade THC called dronabinol marketed as Marinol, the third also a synthetic version of THC called nabilone that is called Cesamet on the markets. The fourth product is the herbal form of cannabis often referred to as marijuana.